In the future, young people who suffer sports-related injuries in Alabama may not have far to go for treatment.

The College of Community Health Sciences/School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus, and the University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics are working together to create a sports medicine fellowship program that would educate, train and certify medical fellows to provide state-of-the-art care in sports medicine across the state.

The program will honor the memory of Patrick Lee Trammell Sr., one of the late coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s favorite players. As a quarterback, Trammell led the Crimson Tide to a national championship title in 1961. He received his undergraduate degree from the University in 1963 and three years later graduated from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. As he prepared to start his residency in 1968, Trammell was diagnosed with cancer. He died later that year at the age of 28.

“This program will make a difference in the health care of all athletes in the state of Alabama,” said E. Eugene Marsh, MD, dean of the College of Community Health Sciences.

As part of the Dr. Patrick Lee Trammell Sr. Excellence in Sports Medicine Program, an endowed chair will be established to recruit a nationally known sports medicine physician who will lead the College of Community Health Sciences’ efforts in sports medicine research and strengthen the college’s sports medicine training.

Under the guidelines of the program, fellows will be required to spend their time among four areas: a sports medicine clinical setting, a family medical clinic setting, the UA athletic department and University sporting events.

The sports medicine fellowship program will be required to have two full-time faculty members. One of those faculty members will be hired to fill the endowed chair. The services of the second faculty member will be provided by the West Alabama Family Practice and Sports Medicine physicians group.

A sports medicine fellowship program of this magnitude requires a substantial up-front investment, Marsh said. The estimated total cost for creating the fellowship program, endowing a chair, hiring the necessary faculty and staff, and renovating space for a clinic is $4,948,000.

Marsh said the program would benefit the University and its athletes and provide additional training for future physicians “that will be felt in community sports programs throughout the state as fellows graduate from the program and establish their practices throughout Alabama and the region.”

“This program will also enhance the training of other family medicine residents, who might not elect to take an extra year to complete the fellowship but who could well find themselves serving as team physicians for sports programs and athletes in the communities where they practice.”